Nothing to See Here
by beatlechicksteph
Summary: Coulson is on assignment in London, but instead of finding the weird sightings that have been reported, he finds a beautiful woman.


**For Marvelously Magical Bingo 2019, Square I5: Phil Coulson/Hermione Granger**

"Hey, Fury, I've got nothing here," Phil Coulson spoke into his phone.

"Are you sure? Because there have been reports of weird shit happening in that neighborhood," Nick Fury replied from the other end of the phone.

"I'm sure. This is just an ordinary neighborhood full of ordinary people. We have been staking out each of the houses for about a week now. There's nothing weird here."

Fury sighed. "Okay, fine. Get back to the ship and we'll move on. I can send you and the team to do a check on some of our Avenger friends. Make sure they're doing what they are supposed to be doing and all that shit."

"Ten Four, Director. I'll start packing up here, and we will move on."

Coulson hung up the phone and stuck it back in his pocket, shaking his head.

He had been sent to this neighborhood in London because people have reported seeing impossible things. So he had come and spend the last week observing things, but everything just seemed normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. It had been a huge waste of his time and resources.

He sighed, taking his sunglasses off and rubbing his eyes. Ninety percent of the time, these things were a bust, but he lived for the other ten percent. He returned his sunglasses to their rightful place, and turned to walk back down the sidewalk to where the rest of his team was stationed. He wasn't watching where he was going, so he crashed into someone.

"Oh," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," a woman said.

He looked down and saw a small woman with brown curly hair and an armful of papers. She was looking up at him with a small smile and kind eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," the woman answered still smiling. "I've seen you around here lately, are you visiting family in the neighborhood?"

Coulson returned her smile, and tried to look casual. For some reason, talking with this woman made him incredibly nervous. "I'm actually here on business."

The woman looked him up and down, no doubt taking in his dark suit and dark shades. "Business? This is an odd place in London to be staying when here on business. Bit off the beaten path as it were."

Coulson shrugged. "I got a really good deal on an Air BnB."

The woman laughed and shook her head. "Stuck on in the sticks of London and have to pay for your own accommodations? What terrible luck you have…"

"Coulson, Phil Coulson," Coulson said sticking out his hand.

The woman juggled her papers so she could stick her hand out as well. "Hermione Granger."

They shook hands and then stood in companionable silence for a minute, neither one really ready to leave the other.

"How much longer are you going to be in town for?" Hermione asked.

"This is actually my last night in town," Coulson replied.

"Oh really? That's too bad. Want to get a drink or something before you head out?"

Coulson thought it over for a minute. What harm would it really do to go out and get a drink with a beautiful woman? Fury said case closed, so it's not like he was working. At least not until he stepped foot back on the ship.

"Sure," he answered. "I just need to take care of a few things and then I would love to go get a drink."

Hermione smiled. "Brilliant. I need to go drop all of this off at my flat and then we meet down here at say…"

"O'eighteen hundred?"

"Sure," she replied. "See you in a few."

Coulson watched as she walked off and smiled to himself. It had been a long, long, long, time since he'd had a date.

Coulson pressed Hermione's back against her door once they had made it back to her flat and inside. His lips captured hers in a steamy kiss that she eagerly returned. Drinks had gone well, and he was already trying to figure out how to make this whole thing not a one off. He could date long distance from the ship. Right?

Hermione was very smart, very beautiful and she easily kept up in conversation with him and didn't look bored once. Which was more than he could say for even his fellow agents most of the time. No this couldn't just be a one night stand. This had to be something more. This could be so much more. He didn't know what he would do or say once she started questioning his line of work, but he was sure he would be able to come up with something. Anything. As long as he could keep her in his life.

He lifted Hermione up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He thanked everything holy that the flat was fairly small and he could easily maneuver through it, and he walked Hermione to the bedroom where he planned to make the most of this one night together.

The sun rose and came in through the window, rousing Coulson from his sleep. He rolled over to see Hermione's bare back as she slept peacefully next to him. He smiled. Last night was kind of amazing. And he was seriously considering calling Fury and asking for a little time off. Just so he could spend a little more time with Hermione.

He sat up in bed and stretched before bending down to grab his boxers and his undershirt. Throwing both on, he moved through the flat until he found the bathroom. After taking care of business, he had pretty much decided he was going to ask for a little time off. Just a week or so. Just so he could get to know Hermione a little bit better, see if it would be worth trying to make long distance and secret lives work between them.

He exited the bathroom and paused to look around the living room. It wasn't very large, but it was well decorated, and well filled. There was no television, which seemed odd, but one wall was completely bookshelves. The wall opposite had lots of frames with pictures in them.

He moved closer to the pictures, and frowned. Odd. It seems like these pictures were…moving. Almost as if they were little gifs. But upon closer inspection, that seemed impossible, since the pictures were very obviously prints, not electronic. Coulson backed away from the photo wall covered in pictures of Hermione and various other people smiling and waving, or doing a dance, or holding their…sticks? What was with the sticks?

He turned around and looked at the bookshelves. Instead of typical fiction and non-fiction books, there were books with strange titles. And on subjects like potions or transfiguration. Coulson shook his head. There was something off about this whole situation.

Before he had a chance to ponder too much, the fireplace in the room suddenly roared to life, filling the room with a green glow before a red-headed man stepped out and into the room.

"'Mione," the man was shouting. "'Mione we need to talk about something we learned in the magical law enforcement late last night. It seems you were right, there are Muggles staked out in the neighborhood—"

Finally the man seemed to notice Coulson was standing there. And he didn't look too pleased.

"'Mione!" the man shouted again.

Coulson just stood there, jaw nearly on the floor. Apparently his mission wasn't a bust. There really was something weird going on in the neighborhood. And that weird stuff was coming from the woman he just slept with.

Hermione came darting out of her room, having pulled a robe on, and she was brandishing a stick in her hand. She didn't look pleased.

"Bloody hell, Ronald. Owl next time!"

"How was I supposed to know you would have a muggle here?" Ronald replied, eyeing Coulson wearily.

"Just, owl or apparate over and knock. I'm allowed to have a social life, you know."

"I know," Ronald replied.

Hermione turned toward Coulson and she looked…sad? Why did she look sad?

"I'm so sorry, Phil. I had such a wonderful time last night, and I was really hoping we could make this work."

Coulson's heart fluttered for a second knowing that she had just as good a time the previous night as he had. But then it grew cold as he realized she was talking in the past tense, and she was still brandishing a stick that he had no idea what it would do.

"Unfortunately, you're a muggle, and you've just witnessed magic, and due to the statute of secrecy, that's just not what's supposed to happen. We can't have you knowing about our world."

Coulson frowned. "Your world? What are you talking about?"

Hermione stepped up right in front of him before standing up on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips. "Until next time, Phil Coulson."

And then she lifted that stick in front of his face and whispered, "Obliviate."

Coulson blinked his eyes as he sat up in the front seat of his car. He rubbed his eyes and groaned. He didn't know why he thought it would be a good idea to go out on a bender last night, but it seemed the only logical conclusion to a week of wasted time. He just hoped his crew would forgive him for putting them off schedule.

He started the car and began driving to the ship, all the while there was this niggling feeling in the back of his mind that he was forgetting something important. He shook his head, trying to remove the fuzziness of too much to drink, and just kept driving. There was weird stuff out there, and he was going to find it.


End file.
